On Art: Peter Jacobs' chronology of pastiche

Montclair artist Peter Jacobs has been keeping track of our times by turning them into a collage — he cuts out images from a newspaper with an X-Acto blade and glues them into Strathmore sketchbooks, creating remarkably integrated original images composed by sight (there are no computer algorithms choosing and shaping his work). From May 4 to July 1, he’ll be showing excerpts from the 2,555 collages he’s made over the past few years in “Changing Times: Seven Years of the Collage Journal.”

The exhibition includes work from the series, as well as installation and video additions. An opening reception for Jacobs, who is one of Jersey’s more dedicated artists, is set for May 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is at 68 Elm St., Summit. Free. Regular hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (908) 273-9121 or visit artcenternj.org.

Circling around the arc at Studio 371

“Arc Types and Well-rounded Characters” is a group exhibition of art based on the circle and its component, the arc, opening Tuesday at Studio 371 in Jersey City. Using the circle as a unifying element, artists address a wide spectrum of subjects, including mathematical, astronomical, environmental, architectural and spatial themes; other artists use the circle as a visual representation of sound, personal experience or data mapping. Some of the included artists muse on the circle as pure form. Overall, the exhibition demonstrates how a simple shape can be charged with unlimited symbolic and artistic potential.

Founded in 2011, Studio 371 is the brainchild of Stephanie Panepinto. The space functions as a multi-use project space for presentations of art exhibitions, film screenings and theatrical performances. Studio 371 is at 371 Warren St., fourth floor, Jersey City. Gallery hours are by appointment. For more information, e-mail stephanie@stephaniepanepinto.com.

Alice Neel: Late portraits and still-lifes

The painter Alice Neel had a summer place in Spring Lake for the last half of her life and created many of her late still lifes there, so she’s a favorite daughter (by pure assertion, of course, as the Giants are from Jersey because they play their home games here), and fans of the resolute and resourceful grand dame of late 20th-century portraiture would want to make the trip into Manhattan for “Alice Neel: Late Portraits and Still-lifes.” The David Zwirner Gallery represents Neel’s estate and this is the second show they’ve mounted of her work since 2008. It’s up from May 4 to June 23, and anything Neel (1904-1984) did is worth seeing.

This exhibition includes portraits and still lifes made between 1964 and 1983, the last two decades of Neel’s life. Only two were done in Jersey, one in San Francisco and the rest in New York City, but if she could brave the bridge and tunnel to live here, we could do the same for her.

The David Zwirner Gallery is at 533 West 19th St., New York. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. For more information, call (212) 727-2070 or visit davidzwirner.org.